Device for dewatering sand and gravel



Aug. 19, 1930. E. P. ESCHER DEVICE FOR DEWATERING SAND AND GRAVEL Filed Feb. 9. 1927 Z Sheets-Sheet 1 Edw V Escher/ Aug. 19, 1930. E, P. E 1,773,419

DEV-ICE 011 DEWATERING SANDKAND GRAVEL in said tank.

Patented Aug. 19, 1930 J "UN D STATES I nnwannr.

or ce r 60., or Annona, 'II Lmors. 2A conronarroiv orflimirivors' I l DEVICE iron nnwa'rnninef s-Aivn snaviin f Application filed February 9', 927... Serial so, mam,

This invention relatestoajsettling basin prov ded ,With a device for adewatering sand and gravelpumped therein by a dredge.

The principal object of the inventionisj the 5 provision of new and improved settling basin provided With means whereby sand and gravel pumped therein admixed With Water may be dewatered easily and with facility.

' Another object of the invention is the pro 10, .vision of a new and improved settling basin so .constructed that the sand and gravel pumped into the'sainemay be slid along its Wallto' a point above the Water level.

Watering it before depositing the same in said hoppers.

Other obj cots of the invention are the provisionoi' a new and iinprovedsettling basin v and dev'vatering device that is simple in conv struction 'andthat is efiicient n operation.

Other and further objects and-advantages of the invention Will appearjfr-om the following'description taken in connection With 1 ftheuacco npanyiiig' drawings, in which.

Fig. '1 is a'plan 'vieW ofthe device; i i Fig. 2 is a section'on' line 2-2 of' Fig'. 1; Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

FigJ L is a section on'linek l of Fi'g fl.

A verylargeamoun'tof the sand and'grav- 'el usedf in construction Work is obtained. from 'sand'aud'gravel'beds below rivers, lakes and otherbo'dies of Water. The'sand and gravel.

settles tot'he" bottom of the basin: and is removed A 'furtherjobject of the invention the Wet sand and gravel from V gravel for the two hoppers.

1 usually dredged" and IniXed "with wa'ter, is"

transported 'in afluid state'to settling basins through suitable pipes. The sandand gravel.

and transported to the screening "demanner.

' It is 'co mmoirpractice to employ the common endless "chain and bucket ,conveyer" for removing tliefsan'd from thefsettling basin, but the mechanism is more or less complicatied andis ezgpensive to operate. Ithas also been proposed togemploya pair of settling tanks Whereby'the sand'may be removed from one While' the sand and gravel are being pun ped' into the other: vBut this method is cumbersomeand' undesirable.

ESCHER or DETROIT, mronreaivgassreivon TO s'rn'rnnns-anaiason MFG.f

The' present,invention"seeks ito eliminate. these"drificultiesbyathe prov sion of a basin and s mple IIIGCllfiIilSIIIfOI, remov ng the sand-J and gravel, draining the sanieyajn d depositing the material in a liOPp BIPIII a fa rly 'dewatered condition.

Inth formotthe device s ated t illus trateoiie embOdiin-entofthe invention, the numeral 10 designates a settling basin having What Will'be termedthe front end Wall 11,

and the, sidewalls 12 and 13. The bottom 7 wall 14 of the'basin is inclined. upwardly and rearwardly asshovvn in Fig. 2 to form a slide Way I511" The slidevva y :15 isextended as at'16 and its centralportion is slightly elevated and crowned to form a draining or deivatering table 17, see'Fig; lithe gutters or channels 18' and 19'at eachsidethereofif One or more-hoppersQIAarefproVided at the upper end of the'table 17 for receiving the sand and gravel draggednpWardlyalong said-*table, as will presently appear. The

number or hoppers employed will depend on Whether one or more dump cars are employ-ed 'on the elevator mechanism. As shown, "tvvo hoppers areemployed.,i'These hoppershave their commonipartition 22pi'ovidedf in the basin for'di'vidingfthe loads of sand and "Eachhopper i's'provided opening23 located in a pit QL aS' ShOWII in controlling the discharge [of the isand {and gravel into the dumpcars or skip-bucket 27, which fcarry'the same up the i'ncline tracks wan discha ge] form ofaninverted on the centerlineof the Figs. 2and'3. Valve's 25Toperated iii any suitable 'i'ianne'rfas *byfineans of the joo'inpress'ed I airfoperating devicef26; are provided for Lil The side walls 12 and 13 of the tankor basin are preferably extended rearwardly about the hoppers and are provided in their intermediate portion with overflow ports 29 whereby the water level will remain below the dewatering table 17 as clearly shown in W r 1g. 1.

purpose.

The tank or basin is deeper at its forward end and the mixture of sand, gravel and water is pumped into said tank orbasin by the dredge through the pipe 31 in the usual or any well known manner, and settles to the bottom of said tank, the excess water overflowing through the over flow ports 29.

Suitable means are provided'for dragging the sand or gravel up t-heinclined slideway or bottom of the tank onto the draining or dewatering table 17. In the form of the device shown, which is by way of example only, a drag'scraper or scraper bucket 32'of any approved construction, is employed for this A haul cable 33 which. extends around the pulleys 34. and35 and to the station 36, is adapted to draw the drag scraper across the sand 37 in the basin, thereby filling said scraper and moving the load up v the inclined slide'way onto thetable 17 A pullback or return cable 38 which extends around the pulleys 39 and 41 and to the station 36 is adaptedto return the scraper. Preferably the pulleys 34 and .39 are of the longitudinal centerline of thebasin whereby thesand will be deposited by the scraper on the central portionof-the dewatering table 17 The basin or tank 10 may be of any convenient size and shape so long as it has an inclined bottom or slideway along which the drag scraper loadedwith sand may slide, For large screening plants the tank is .very large in dimension, but its size will depend upon the capacity of output desired.

In the operation of the device the material which for convenience of-description will be termed sand, whether it be sand or gravel or both, is pumped into theta-nk in the usual manner.v The scraper is moved by the cable 33 across the material and up the inclined bottom wall of the tank onto the dewatering table 17' to a point adjacent to the hoppers, where the load -42 is left and the scraper returned by the cable 38. The water in the sand of the load 42 will drain onto the table 1? and flow into the gutters 18 and l9, back into the tank 10, whilethescraper is being returned for the HGiXt-lOitdf. The succeeding load of the scraper will push the preceding load ich is a y awns-re nw r ly: onto the hoppers. If'desired, the scraper load maybe deposited directlyonto the 1 .013

pers, but-preferably it is left on the dewatering table .during-the tiine itta-kes to deliver;

the succeeding load.

h ia l o h dred e d-.devete ?r- -s" m mu taneeus and-. 91

tinuons.

It is thought from the foregoing taken in connection with the accompanying drawings that the construction and operation of my device will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and that various changes in size, shape, proportion and details of construction may be niade withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

v 1. In combination, a settling .basin for re.- ceiving a mixture ofwater and particles of solid material from a dredge, an inclined slideway formedin the bottom of said basin, said inclined slideway having its side edges lower than its central portion, a scraper and means for drawing sa d scraper across said material deposited in said basin and up said slideway above the water linein said basin.

2. Ill COlllbiIlfltiOIl, a basin having an inclinedbottom wall with the upper surface of itsupper portion convex, a scraper memher and means for drawing saidscraper or bucket upwardly along said inclined bottom! wall.

3. In combination, a, basin having side walls, an inclined bottom and end wall, said walls extending above the water line in saidbasin, a scraper, means for drawing said scraper acrosssaid basin for loading the same with sand deposited in said basin, said means being adapted to draw said loaded scraper up said inclined wail, andmeans for with; drawing said scraper and leaving said sand on said inclined wall above said water line.

4. A settling tank for receiving, sand, gravel and the like pumped from a deposit by a dredge, an inclined slideway in, said. tank terminating in a crowned dewateringv table above the normal level of the water in said tank.

5. In combination, a settling tank, a conduit for conducting sand and water to. said tank, an, inclined slideway in said tank, the upper-portion of said slideway being above the normal water line in said tank, a dra scraper of materially less width than said slideway, means for reciprocating said scraper longitudinally of said tank for drags ging the sand along said slideway above the water line ofsaid-tank, and means for caus ing water to drain laterally frornsaid sand when thesa e has been depositedjon said slideway. l

6. In combination, a settling tank for re; cei-ving'; sand, gravel, waterandth'e; like pumped into the same by a -dredge,-.a hopper adjacent to -,said.- tank, an inclined slideway; extendiug from said hopper tol sa id =tai1k .-and5. constitutingv the bottom wall; of saidtan-kj, said Slideway being. crowned in :its. central-5 portion and provided withjgntters, at the sidesthereof; 5 7

7. A settlingbasin comprising. sides and. e. .end awa l- -0n- 1-y,' discharge .ports inofieoi said side Walls above the bottom thereoflithe'g.

bottom Wall of said basin being inclined up wardly and terminating above the level'of the lower edge-of said ports whereby the upper end of said bottom- Wall will constitute a draining table, the outer side portions ofsaid table being lower than the central portions thereof for constituting gutters. I

' In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

EDWARD P; ESGHER. 

